Time to Depart

I recently have been rereading the Falco series, and I find A Time to Depart to be interesting, vivid and funny. I like the mixture of the tragic and the comic, with the reality of the similarity between people of our own time and people who lived in Vespasian Rome made vividly clear. I liked this book so much that I decided to buy a used hardback edition of it, because I know I will be reading it again.

This is the seventh novel in the mystery series featuring Marcus Didius Falco, an informer and sleuth in Rome at the time of Vespasian. A series of books that have become hugely popular, so much so that the author is now at the forefront of historical mystery writers. It was probably a stroke of genius on her part to have novels that are extremely well researched and contain all the elements that would be and should be found in the Roman world of circa AD70, but to have a lead character who has the vocabulary of a present day New York cop. In this the seventh novel Falco and Helena Justina almost seem like long lost relations to the reader. Time to Depart the title of this latest offering from Lindsey Davis is quite a poignant phrase. If a Roman citizen committed a crime they were not confined to prison but in the true sense of the words they were given time to depart from the Roman Empire and very few were ever allowed to return. Exile was considered to be the worst punishment possible for a Roman. Falco is on the quay at Ostia. "It is Time to Depart" for one of Rome's most famous criminals and Falco and his friend, Petronius are there to see that it actually happens. In this book Lindsey Davis has allowed Falco to remain within the confines of his beloved Rome. Working with his oldest friend Petronius Longinus, Captain of the Aventine Watch. There has been an outbreak of robberies and murder in the city and Falco and Petro pool their resources to try to get to the bottom of them. At the same time Falco is looking for a new place to live for himself and Helena. He believes that in a few months time their old apartment will not be big enough for them

In this book Helena and Falco are back in Imperial Rome. The stories seem to be more exciting when Falco's on his own turf. This story tells about rival gangs and gangsters in ancinet Rome. I don't know whether it's comforting or not to know that these types of bad guys have been around forever. Falco and his friend Petro get involved in a city wide manhut. Corpses turn up along the way. We see heists, murders, fraud and the whole gamut in this book. It's a rollicking good tale, and I can hardly wait for the next one.

Lindsey Davis continues to create a fascinating saga of life in ancient Rome. She makes the city and the daily activities come alive, while continuing the story of Falco and his crime solving abilities. It is a real treat to read, and makes the reader impatient for the next adventure in the series. Top notch.

Ah, Time to Depart is much better than Last Act in Palmyra. I waited to read Time to Depart until I finished Last Act, and that took quite a while. Marcus and company are quite enjoyable. I agree with many others that it is time for Helena and Marcus to get married. It seems that Caesar owes Marcus quite a bit for all his loyal work and something should be able to be worked out about his rank. A new apartment, a baby on the way, a major crime boss destroyed, a major fire averted, ah such is the life of an informer in Ancient Rome. The next book in the series is sitting on the shelf and that's the one I'll be reading next. Keep up the good work!